


For I'll Love You For Eternity (But Until Then...)

by alexiahayez



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst and Feels, Cheating, Denial of Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Inaccurate Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Inspired by Eros and Psyche (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Son of Eros! Jihoon, a lot of moments that’ll make you hate wz, but don’t hate him, he soft, human! soonyoung
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexiahayez/pseuds/alexiahayez
Summary: “Listen, what if I place you a bet?” - Seungcheol said as he waved his hand to summon one of his lovers, Jeonghan, one of Apollo’s muses - “Jeonghan will give you a person, and you will be near them for the next century, grow old with them, be with them, see if you can fall in love with them. If you win, I’ll talk to Zeus himself to get you to become one of the major gods.”“You can do that?” - Jihoon cut Seungcheol’s off.“But if you fall in love with that person, well, your agony is your punishment enough, but you will have to give up your power for one thousand years. Does that sound good?”“This is a game I know I will win, Cheol” - Jihoon laughed - “You’re making this too easy for me. Challenge accepted, as the kids these days say it.”
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21





	1. Epilogue: Eros Game

“You’re evil, Lee Jihoon!” - A girl shrieked as she was throwing everything in her grasp toward a handsome, young man with a smirk on his face - “You don’t get to run around and break people’s heart like that!” - She continued screaming as the guy just stood there quietly observing the girl’s sanity disappearing behind her bright eyes. She was losing everything. Her family, her love, her beauty, all for the man in front of her. 

“You cannot ask a son of Eros to not hunt for love, dear!” - The man chuckled - “You cannot blame me for you losing a simple game of emotion. You are a daughter of Aphrodite, you should’ve known better. Your mom is a love goddess” 

“Lee Jihoon!” - She screamed - “If you walk out that door today, I will sacrifice myself to the Goddess! I will ask that she make you live a life where no one will ever love you for who you truly are! You will get a taste of your own medicine soon!”

“Don’t threaten me, dear!” - Jihoon rolled his eyes - “We both know that I don’t care about what you’re going to do after this.” - He said turning toward the door - “I got what I wanted, and you, you lost because you’re just a useless slave of emotion.”

“Lee Jihoon, mark my words!” - She said before she grabbed the closest piece of glass and started cutting into her chest - “You will never truly be loved, by anyone!”

\--

“I really don’t know if it’s a curse or a blessing, Cheol” - Jihoon laughed loudly as he leaned closer to one of his new victims, David. David wrapped his arms around Jihoon and looked at him endearingly, with a clear tint of lust - “I don’t even have to hunt now, I just sit there and the preys come by themselves. Like this one.” - He reached out and cupped David’s face - “Do you love me, dear?”

“Why are you asking that?” - David answered immediately - “I could never not love you. You are my precious Jihoonie.” - David said, leaned over for a kiss, only to be pushed away by Jihoon.

“Too bad I don’t love you” - Jihoon made a mocking sad face, and David could only sit there in shock. He felt tears were forming in the corners of his eyes, but he still held Jihoon close in his arms.

“Don’t joke like that, love.” - David tried to convince himself that Jihoon was only joking, but Jihoon was getting annoyed. He yanked out of David’s embrace and smirked arrogantly.

“I’m not joking. I don’t love you.” - Jihoon said firmly while looking deep inside of David’s eyes as if to let David knew that his every word came from his true emotion - “Go away, and stop pestering me, human.” 

He waved his hand as two guards emerged from thin air appeared and quickly held David up, disappearing in the midst of pink smoke. 

Lee Jihoon, the most beloved son of Eros, the God of Love and Sex, never loved. He, as instructed by his father, hunted for love. Love to him was just a game, a game where he played to win. If one falls in love with him, he gets more power and his father loves him more. If his father loves him more, he gets to have big palaces, cars, money, whatever he wants. So when he found out about the curse that everyone he sets eyes on would fall in love with him unconditionally, passionately, and lustfully, Jihoon took it as an advantage to himself. For two centuries, he was considered Eros’ favorite son, Eros frequently visited him with gifts and new powers and Jihoon had never once considered the lives that had to live forever in agony because he discarded them like a piece of paper, a rock on the sidewalk, a leaf on a tree, they were never relevant in his life. 

“That was cruel, Ji.” - Seungcheol, son of Ares, finally spoke.

“Oh, don’t lecture me about cruelty, Cheol” - Jihoon rolled his eyes - “A son of the War God, one who killed millions of people for centuries straight, is telling me that it is cruel to love?”

“To make someone fall in love with you and treat them like trash is cruel, Ji” - Seungcheol said. Even though he was Jihoon’s best friend, he couldn’t bear seeing him treating humans as if they were nothing. It even exceeded the tolerance of a War God, who literally killed people, millions of them, for greed.

“You’re only saying that because you don’t get the fun in seeing humans keep losing to a game they all want to play. Always hate the game, Cheol, you said it.” - Jihoon laughed as he poured himself another cup of grape-wine, gifted by Dionysus himself.

“What if one day you fall in love, Ji?” - Seungcheol asked - “What if someday you fall in love and that person doesn’t love you?” 

“Well, how am I supposed to know?” - Jihoon shrugged - “I will never fall in love, you know that. Love is weak. Look at you after you got Jeonghan and Jisoo, you stopped inflicting wars and started to focus on those boring ‘truces’. You know War is one of the best entertainment for the Gods.” - He glared at Seungcheol - “But props for getting two lovers, I guess. Three in bed are always better, trust me, I’m the son of the God of Sex.” 

Jihoon once again laughed out loud, and Seungcheol, though normally would laugh along with him on these topics, felt like he went a bit too far. It was one thing to play around with love, Seungcheol had a feeling that Jihoon was disregarding the existence of love as a whole, reducing it to merely sex and temptation. Love is supposed to make you a better person, it made Seungcheol a better person. He had a reason to come home, so he stopped being reckless on the battlefields, he started to want to make the world a safer place for himself and his lovers. Even if it meant not doing what he had been doing since the start of his existence. 

“Listen, what if I place you a bet?” - Seungcheol said as he waved his hand to summon one of his lovers, Jeonghan, one of Apollo’s muses - “Jeonghan will give you a person, and you will be near them for the next century, grow old with them, be with them, see if you can fall in love with them. If you win, I’ll talk to Zeus himself to get you to become one of the major gods.”

“You can do that?” - Jihoon cut Seungcheol’s off.

“I can, I can since he owed me a favor since I found out he was sleeping with the Queen of Athens twenty centuries ago.” - Seungcheol nodded and Jeonghan finally appeared inside the room - “But if you fall in love with that person, well, your agony is your punishment enough, but you will have to give up your power for one thousand years. Does that sound good?”

“This is a game I know I will win, Cheol” - Jihoon laughed - “You’re making this too easy for me. Challenge accepted, as the kids these days say it.”

\--

“Hi, honey” - Jihoon woke up next to a beautiful blonde boy. He had eyes that became crescent moons when he smiled, and he was wrapping his arms around Jihoon’s waist lovingly. 

Kwon Soonyoung, one of the most beautiful humans on Earth. Jihoon knew it, he was Jeonghan’s favorite. That was why Jeonghan chose this boy for Jihoon. The most beautiful boy Jihoon had ever laid eyes on. He was a Fine Arts student and was studying at Seoul National University, so he was smart and talented. Jihoon couldn’t complain about Jeonghan’s choice, maybe that was why he ended up with Seungcheol. That guy couldn’t make a wrong choice in lover at all. 

Soonyoung stirred as he whined at the sleep he was waking up from. Jihoon leaned forward to press a kiss on his lips. It was easy for Jihoon to blend into Soonyoung’s life. Since his curse was working just fine, Soonyoung immediately fell in love with him and left his six-year boyfriend, Wonwoo to move in with Jihoon within a week. However, with his power as the son of the God of Love and Sex, he could feel clearly that Soonyoung loved Wonwoo very much. They were planning to get married the very moment Soonyoung graduate from university. Welp, sorry for ruining your plan, Wonwoo, but it wasn’t Jihoon’s fault. Blame Jeonghan for picking your boyfriend to be his subject then. Jeonghan did say that he chose Soonyoung because he had a heart of gold, and he would love Jihoon until Jihoon had no choice but to fall in love with him. Jihoon laughed at the statement. 

“Good morning, beautiful” - Soonyoung opened his eyes as they immediately lit up when the first thing Soonyoung saw was Jihoon’s face. He scooted closer to Jihoon, hand never left Jihoon’s waist. 

Jihoon hummed happily, or at least he was pretending to be. He let himself be held by Soonyoung, and Soonyoung soon moved closer to Jihoon’s lips. Jihoon wasted no time as he captured Soonyoung’s lips perfectly. They started a slow, lazy but affectionate kiss. Jihoon was already hooking his legs up to Soonyoung’s waist, waited for him to initiate something. Yet, Soonyoung only snuggled into Jihoon’s neck crook as he kissed gently on Jihoon’s skin. 

“I love you so much” - He whispered - “But I also want to cherish you.” - He kissed Jihoon again - “You are not ready, and I’ll wait.” - He pulled out of Jihoon’s neck, looked at Jihoon lovingly and smiled - “I want you to remember our first time forever.”

Jihoon whined, but he nodded. Dammit, Jeonghan chose a gentleman for Jihoon, the worst kind of human. Those who believe in first times and love until eternity. He was used to getting what he wanted, he could easily manipulate Soonyoung into giving him what he wanted right there. But he didn’t, because he promised Seungcheol as a part of their bet that he wouldn’t use any of his special powers this time. He wouldn’t use his manipulation, his seduction, or anything. Just him and the curse. The curse was already an advantage for Jihoon because he knew Soonyoung was deeply in love with him, and until Jihoon discards him, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. 

“I have to go to my class, but I’ll make you breakfast, okay?” - Soonyoung said as he kissed once more on Jihoon’s forehead - “What do you want to eat, except for me?”

“Anything” - Jihoon sighed contently - “As long as you join me.”

“Of course” - Soonyoung let out a soft laugh, seeing Jihoon in his bed was like looking at a tired cat - “I will never leave you.”

_ Oh, you humans and your stupid promises that you could never keep. _

Soonyoung and Jihoon were pulled out of their little morning sweetness by a knock on his door. Soonyoung quickly threw on his coat so that he could come to the door to see who was bothering them that early in the morning. It was Wonwoo, but this time with another guy next to him, a tall, good looking guy. 

Jihoon’s type.

“What are you doing here?” - Soonyoung asked coldly as if he had never seen the person standing in front of him before.

“Can we at least act like we know each other, Soonyoung?” - Wonwoo asked, his voice filled with pain and his tone indicated that he was broken.

“Why are you here disturbing us?” - Jihoon came out from their bedroom. Not because he wanted to taunt Wonwoo, but he wanted to take a closer look at Wonwoo’s companion - “And who is this?”

“Mingyu” - The tall guy said, he was angry for sure, at how Soonyoung was treating Wonwoo - “I’m Wonwoo’s new boyfriend, so you could let down your attitude, Soonyoung!” - Soonyoung’s name was emphasized through Mingyu’s gritted teeth. 

“Glad you found someone new.” - Soonyoung said - “But you haven’t answered us, what are you doing here?”

“I just want my ring back.” - Wonwoo said - “I just don’t want a cheater like you to keep it.” - Mingyu nodded in agreement. 

“Fine” - Soonyoung said as he walked back to his bedroom, the rustling sound of him going over his closet came and Jihoon started to fall into his contemplation. 

“Listen” - Wonwoo turned to Jihoon - “I don’t want to blame you. I don’t hate you. But can you promise me one thing, Jihoon?” - Wonwoo didn’t let Jihoon answer before he continued - “Please promise me you will take care of Soonyoung, make sure he doesn’t overwork himself, make sure he comes home, make sure he remembers to take his vitamins. Please, don’t leave him alone. He’s scared to be alone. He loves animals, so if you guys ever get married, let him have at least one dog, he would be very happy.” - He paused before he could continue - “Please promise me you’ll love him, Jihoon.”

Jihoon didn’t say anything. He wanted to nod and gave an empty promise to Wonwoo so that he could stop pestering him, but something about Mingyu's appearance made him scared of making empty promises. Jihoon could sense it, Mingyu was not a human. He could be a demigod, but Jihoon had been secretly using his power to manipulate Mingyu into staying after Soonyoung left for school to have some fun with Jihoon, but Mingyu didn’t flinch. He wasn’t looking at Jihoon with lust-filled eyes like other people did when he was around.

“I will” - Jihoon finally managed to say it, and Mingyu narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, Jihoon could feel a pain in his back.

_ He’s being cursed again. Great, two curses. One can never be enough.  _

Jihoon soon found out that Mingyu was indeed the son of the Goddess of the River Styx. In short, Jihoon just vowed to the river of the Underworld that he would love Soonyoung. He couldn’t break this promise, no god could ever break the promise on the River Styx. Mingyu must have told Wonwoo to say that, Mingyu must have known about him, and making him promise to love Soonyoung was like setting him up to fail. Jihoon was put in a very difficult situation here. He couldn’t fall in love with Soonyoung, because it meant he would lose the bet with Seungcheol, but if he didn’t love Soonyoung, he would be damned to an eternity of punishment and pain by the River Styx’s Goddess. He would not want to go down there and meet Styx again, he did that once when he accidentally caused another Helen situation in the 18th century that almost led to human’s extinction if Seungcheol didn’t intervene and got everyone to sign a truce. He was punished to work for Hades for fifty years, and he did not have fun classifying dead souls.

He had only one choice then, to make Soonyoung feel loved by him until he dies without falling in love with him. More works for Jihoon as now he had to act as he cared for the boy, a little bit, but it was better than going to see Styx again. 

  
  



	2. Himeros - Unrequited Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first decade of their lives together, in Soonyoung's 20s. 
> 
> “Seungcheol.” - Jihoon said to himself, but he knew Seungcheol was listening - “I admit it, I lost our bet. You can take my power away, I want to be able to live a normal, mortal life with this man.”
> 
> “You know that even if I take away your power, it doesn’t take away your curse. You’d still have to live life unsure if he loves you because of the curse or if he really does, right?” - Seungcheol said as he appeared out of thin air. 
> 
> “Yeah. I don’t know if I love him or not either.” - Jihoon sighed - “But he makes me want to try. So until I’m sure what love means to me, I want to be with him.”
> 
> “You’ll be hurt. You cannot use your power to heal your broken heart this time.” - Seungcheol warned. He had seen Jihoon hurt once, and it was brutal for him. 
> 
> “It’s worth a try.” - Jihoon chuckled softly - “And I made a promise to River Styx.”
> 
> “Fine.” - Seungcheol smiled. - “See you when you’re a God again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The devil works hard but I work harder. I feel like it was unfair since I promise I'd start this when I'm done w I'll Love You but back then I was expecting to finish I'll Love You in 4 weeks, now that I've prolonged I'll Love You, it'll be unfair to keep people waiting.
> 
> I'll proof-read when I'm done with the entire thing.

In Soonyoung’s twenties, he had everything. 

While other friends at his age struggled to find an identity, a voice, a place where he belonged, he had known all of those. He knew what he wanted to do when he entered college, he graduated top of his class and he was offered a scholarship for higher education when he was only 22. 

The first struggle he really encountered was when Wonwoo entered the picture. He never expected that he would fall in love with a guy, and honestly, Wonwoo went from being an experiment that he met in University’s frat parties into the one he thought he never wanted to leave. He had yet to tell his parents about Wonwoo, and it had been bothering him for a while now. Wonwoo was understanding enough to not push him to come out, but since he had told Wonwoo about his plan for them to get married right after he finished his Masters degree, it was becoming his anxiety. 

A night prior to meeting Jihoon, his and Wonwoo’s relationship had been on the line. None of them did anything wrong to the other, actually. The fight was petty, and it came from nowhere. It was in the first several weeks of them moving in with each other, renting an apartment near Soonyoung’s school. Wonwoo’s workplace was a bit further, but since Wonwoo wanted Soonyoung to focus on his study, he agreed to get the place. When Kwon parents came to visit, Soonyoung, out of panic, introduced Wonwoo as his roommate, not his boyfriend, and in contrast to what Soonyoung expected Wonwoo to feel, Wonwoo actually understood him and didn’t say anything. So that was when Soonyoung lost it. 

“Why didn’t you get mad?” - Soonyoung asked when Wonwoo was cooking in the kitchen.

“Mad for what?” - Wonwoo asked.

“I didn’t call you my boyfriend in front of my parents.” - Soonyoung said, clearly showing his irritation in his voice.

“You haven’t come out to them yet, have you?” - Wonwoo replied as he put some green onion into his egg fried rice. 

“Yeah, but don’t you want me to?” - Soonyoung was getting annoyed at how nonchalant Wonwoo was about the issue - “Are you really fine with me not coming out? Fine with me not giving you a proper label?”

“I mean, I’m alright. I guess.” - Wonwoo stopped for a moment to think of an answer. He never wanted to pressure Soonyoung into anything, and if Soonyoung wasn’t ready to come out, then it was fine staying that way. He knew that he was blessed with having parents who understood his orientation, but he also understood that Soonyoung parents might react differently since Soonyoung had always been a perfect son, this could cause conflict between him and his family. Wonwoo was just trying to be understanding. 

“You should.” - Soonyoung said - “You should because I would be mad if you tell your parents I’m your roommate.” - Wonwoo froze in surprise. Was he wrong to be understanding toward Soonyoung?

“Well, I don’t know why you never have a problem with anything.” - Soonyoung scoffed - “When we first moved in, you agreed to get this apartment because it was closer to my school, but you have to travel forty-five minutes to your workplace. You never told me that I was wrong, you were fine with me doing whatever I want.”

“And that is a problem because…?” - Wonwoo was seriously confused with this sudden outburst. 

“Because I’ll never understand you, Wonwoo.” - Soonyoung almost screamed - “I could never get better, I don’t know how to move forward with our relationship when I don’t know your fear, your worries, your anxieties, your goals. I don’t know how to comfort you, and I feel like you’re the only one making an effort in this relationship and I don’t want that, I want to be a part of this relationship, too, if you know what I mean.”

“No I don’t know what you mean, Soonyoung.” - Wonwoo frowned - “I am trying to be the more understanding one. I know you’re talented and you can go places, especially if you can get that Masters degree. That is why I’m okay with our apartment being near the school so that you can focus on your study. I am okay with you not coming out because you still need your parents’ trust fund and I can’t risk that, especially not this early into my career. So I am sorry for not showing more anger for unnecessary things, but I do everything for you, Soonyoung.” 

“I keep hearing you talk about me, but where is ‘us’?” - Soonyoung asked, and Wonwoo immediately showed annoyance. Soonyoung was being unfair. - “Where is us? Are you my brother, or my lover?”

“Get out, Soonyoung.” - Wonwoo clearly didn’t want to advance this conversation - “Get some air and come back when you’re ready to reason like adults.”

Soonyoung angrily stood up and grabbed his jacket. All he could do was to slam the door loudly so he could get his message across to Wonwoo, but to which Wonwoo only rolled his eyes in irritation. 

Soonyoung didn’t know what got to him that night. He was just overwhelmed. His parents’ visit reminded him once more of how much power they still had over him, and the fact that his and Wonwoo’s apartment was paid half by his parents only confirmed that he could be kicked out by his parents any moment with the smallest of fault. He felt like he wasn’t making any effort at all. He had always been raised to be the perfect child of the perfect family, and he was raised to believe that there was nothing that his parents couldn’t give him. They were not rich, but they managed to save up a trust fund for Soonyoung to make it through college and maybe higher education if he wanted to, the only condition was to be the perfect child that his parents could brag about whenever they wanted. He expected his parents to reject his intention of getting into Fine Arts for college, but they were understanding and told him it was okay if he wanted to chase his dreams. Everything was all about what he wanted. He never encountered any real struggles until he met Wonwoo, and for the first time he wanted to fight for something so much, he wanted to be more mature and have more control over his life. Those were the only “wants” that he couldn’t get. It was piling on him from day to day ever since he moved out, and what happened that night was just his body and mind being angry at himself, not Wonwoo, he knew that. 

Shit, he should apologize. 

“Hey.” - He heard a voice come from beside him as he was sitting at the bus stop in front of their apartment. - “You know the bus just left.” 

“Yeah, I’m not waiting for the bus.” - He said coldly, clearly didn’t want to start a conversation. 

“Well, then what are you doing here at the bus stop?” - He could hear the other person giggling. It was like the cutest giggle he had ever heard. 

“I just need some air. I live in the apartment behind us.” - Soonyoung said, he could feel that he was less tense than before. Maybe it was because he just heard a cute giggle. 

“Oh, so you must be studying at SNU.” - The person said - “I know a lot of SNU students who stay there. It’s the closest apartment complex around the campus.”

“Yeah” - Soonyoung hummed, he didn’t really want to continue talking, not when he was still angry and confused. 

“I’m an SNU student, too.” - The other said and turned to him, offering his hand for a handshake - “My name is Lee Jihoon.”

\-- 

“I met a son of Styx the other day. Apparently, I made a promise in the presence of a Styx representative.” - Jihoon was in Soonyoung’s apartment, scrolling through his phone while Soonyoung was in class when Seungcheol and his two lovers appeared out of thin air. 

It had been three months since Jihoon started this, and Seungcheol occasionally would come over to check in with him and to get updates on what happened. Not like he cared that much, he just wanted to laugh at once mighty and arrogant Jihoon living a normal person’s life. 

“Mingyu or Hansol?” - Joshua, one of Seungcheol’s other lovers, asked. He was an ocean nymph, and he was Jeonghan’s best friend since the first God War. - “I know both of them.”

“The tall one.” - Jihoon said and Joshua hummed in understanding. 

“Mingyu. Heard he had that new fascination with a human. Hasn’t been home for months now.” - Joshua said, and Jihoon snickered sarcastically. 

“Yeah, well, the one he has a fascination with was Soonyoung’s ex. He prompted the human into forcing me to make a promise on the River Styx, so now I have no choice but to act like I care about Soonyoung, otherwise, it’s another fifty years working for Hades.” - Jihoon rolled his eyes in annoyance. 

“Don’t sound so bitter, Hoonie.” - Seungcheol said while withholding a laugh - “Maybe you’ll fall in love with Soonyoung for real.”

“Doubtfully.” - Jihoon said - “The boy didn’t even agree to have sex with me. He said he wanted to wait until ‘I’m ready’. Who’s not ready for good sex?”

“Maybe he wants to cherish you first and wants to make sure that you’re ready and committed as he is in this relationship.” - Jeonghan said. 

Jihoon didn’t answer. He supposed he knew that not every relationship is built on sexual desire, but Soonyoung was the first one who could refuse his wants and needs.

“Love isn’t always about following what you want, Jihoon.” - Jeonghan said as if he could read Jihoon’s mind - “Sometimes it’s what you want best for your partner. If Soonyoung thinks that it’s best for you, then he’d do it.”

“Yeah, but isn’t the curse supposed to make everyone want me?” - Jihoon showed irritation in his voice.

“Soonyoung wants you, Jihoonie. But he puts aside his wants and needs to do what he thinks is best for you, that’s his way of showing love.” - Jeonghan said.

“Well his way of showing love sucks.” - Jihoon said and Seungcheol busted out laughing.

“You never keep a lover around for long enough for them to cherish and love you. Maybe this time you’ll find that being loved is not bad at all.” - Seungcheol said and he disappeared just as he heard the sound of the door lock clicking. 

Soonyoung walked in a moment later, and he ran toward Jihoon who was trying his best to act like he was just bored from playing on his phone. Soonyoung's smile immediately appeared on his face as he saw Jihoon. 

“You’re back.” - Jihoon tried to sound excited, and he believed he succeeded since Soonyoung started to look even happier. 

“Miss me?” - Soonyoung asked flirtatiously, and Jihoon tried his best not to cringe, but Soonyoung seemed to have caught that. - “If you want to cringe, you can do it. Don’t have to pretend you like my sappy flirts, Hoonie.” 

Jihoon waited for the pain in his back to return. He thought he just made Soonyoung sad or disappointed by being caught faking enthusiasm. Yet, the pain never came. He opened his eyes wide to look at the man in front of him, all still smiling and looking like he just had the best day of his life. 

“You’re not mad?” - Jihoon asked and Soonyoung immediately answered no. 

“What should I be mad for?” - Soonyoung asked genuinely. 

“Nothing…” - Jihoon said, but he was surprised. Normally, he’d be mad if one of his ex-lovers didn’t show enthusiasm in bed, or worse, faked it.

_Not everything can be compared to sex, Jihoonie._

Jeonghan’s voice echoed in his head, and he knew that the three of them were still in the building watching them. He made a mental note to give a full report about Jeonghan’s sex life to his mom later.

“So, you want to grab an early dinner?” - Soonyoung asked and Jihoon glanced at the clock, it was only 4:30 PM.

“Isn’t it a bit too soon?” - Jihoon said and Soonyoung patted his head before sitting down with a book in his hand, a cookbook.

“I bought this book earlier and I thought I could give it a try.” - Soonyoung said as he opened the first page - “I mean we can’t get food outside forever, and I want to spoil you a lot so it’d be financially impossible. So I’ll spoil you at home.” - Jihoon didn’t know what to say as Soonyoung continued - “Besides, if I make dinner I’ll be able to put a special ingredient in.”

“What special ingredient?” - Jihoon asked, and he regretted asking.

“Love.” - Soonyoung said casually and Jihoon made a joking gagging sound which then Soonyoung busted out laughing controllably. For some reason, Soonyoung couldn’t stop and he was panting and struggling with breathing, and that sight amused Jihoon so much he couldn’t help himself but joined it with Soonyoung’s laughing fit.

It was the first time in several millenium that Jihoon could laugh that much. Normally he laughed when he won a bet, or he just broke a heart. This time, it was a dumb reason that he couldn’t explain. 

“Come on, aren’t you going to help me with dinner?” - Soonyoung said when they both came down from their laughing fit, Jihoon was still trying to catch his breath.

“No.” - Jihoon stubbornly shook his head - “You do it.”

“Fine, then I’ll eat alone.” - Soonyoung said and Jihoon immediately stood up. Gods still had to eat.

Soonyoung smiled at Jihoon’s reaction. He never meant to left Jihoon out of his dinner anyway, but the way Jihoon took whatever he said so seriously was cute. Soonyoung thought it was because Jihoon couldn’t process jokes as quickly as he did.

While in fact, except for Seungcheol’s (and sometimes Jeonghan’s) “jokes”, which were mostly about insulting and making fun of Jihoon, he never had any real experience with sarcasm and human’s amusements.

“I don’t like spicy food.” - Jihoon commented as Soonyoung was looking at making spicy pork ribs from the cookbook.

“Kay, so we’re not gonna have that.” - Soonyoung said it out loud, though he was just noting it for himself - “Anything, in particular, you want to eat right now?”

“Dunno.” - Because he often had servants prepare food in advance for him, and he just went with whatever he was served. 

“Hmm, let’s do something simple today since I didn’t have time to do any shopping.” - Soonyoung said. - “Also simple means that we can eat earlier and cuddle more.”

“Just cuddle?” - Jihoon didn’t notice that he was voicing his disappointment out loud.

Soonyoung immediately stopped everything he was doing and moved closer to Jihoon. Jihoon tried to shy away from Soonyoung as he thought this time he hurt Soonyoung for real, and he was waiting for the pain on his back to come. Yet once again, it never did. Jihoon sighed as Soonyoung made him look at Soonyoung in the eyes.

“Is there anything you want to tell me?” - Soonyoung asked softly. 

“No, it’s okay.” - Jihoon shook his head, but Soonyoung quickly moved his hands to cup Jihoon’s face, forcing him to maintain eye contact. 

“You should tell me whatever you think, babe.” - Soonyoung still kept his soft tone. - “I want to hear from you, whatever you think, whatever you want, so that I know where I was wrong.”

Soonyoung didn’t want to make the same mistake he did during his six years with Wonwoo. They were both basked in the happiness of love and innocence that they forgot that they were still different people, and different people have different opinions on matters. Wonwoo never told him what he enjoyed and what he didn’t enjoy, he just went along with whatever Soonyoung wanted. As a result, they never went further than what they knew about each other during their teenage years. They couldn’t move forward in their relationship as adults, and when real adulthood hit them, they crumbled under the pressure. Soonyoung didn’t want that to happen again with Jihoon. He wanted Jihoon to know that he could accommodate whatever Jihoon wanted, too. There should be two adults in this relationship, not just his partner so that he could play the role of the baby being spoiled. 

“I mean…” - Jihoon said shyly. It was one thing being the son of the God of Love and Sex, he got to have sex just by looking at whoever he wanted, but to voice it out loud and under the man who was looking at him with nothing but love, well, cursed-love, in his eyes, it was different. Jihoon felt small, and for a moment, humble. As if he genuinely didn’t want to hurt Soonyoung. - “It’s been three months and we haven’t had sex, so I don’t know if you really want me…”

“Honey” - Soonyoung sighed, but it was a sigh of relief - “Listen. After we eat, we’ll talk about this. I’m not stalling or anything, it’s just I’ve boiled the water and taken out the noodles, so I don’t want to leave it on the counter to spoil. However, we will sit down, and I’ll tell you what I feel, and you’ll tell me what you feel. We will talk this out.”

Jihoon nodded and he cursed himself that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Humans and their needs to “communicate properly”, it’d bored his brain out.

Jihoon expected Soonyoung’s first try making Jajamyeon would be worse, but turned out his “secret ingredient” was actually good, or Jihoon was just super hungry because he had never had anything that good in his life. And he had lived three millenniums and tasted various different cuisines. It wasn’t until later, in Seungcheol’s next visit, that he learned that because he was a child of the God of Love and Sex, he responded to food differently, as he could feel the emotion being poured into the meal. Jeonghan said he felt the same thing whenever he had meals made by passionate cooks, he could feel the love they put into what they made. Jihoon scoffed at that, but he felt a warmth building up in his stomach.

But that was the story of several months from then. That night, Jihoon was just annoyed that he got himself for a talking session with Soonyoung, which would be very sentimental and Soonyoung would show him his vulnerabilities, what Jihoon hated the most in humans. Vulnerability, weakness when it comes to emotion.

Surprisingly, Soonyoung eased him into the conversation by telling Jihoon about how he saw a cat on the street. It was funny to Jihoon how he tried his best to connect the story about a lonely cat to how he felt before he left Namyangju. Yet, the more Jihoon listened, the more he understood. It was like Soonyoung had this special power of convincing him that the stories were actually related. Soonyoung’s family was strict, but they managed to hide their strictness by allowing Soonyoung to do what he wanted to do unless it concerned the family’s image. Soonyoung grew up not having anyone to talk to, so he valued the importance of communication. He also felt like he wasn’t actually free from his parents, and he wanted to come out as gay but he knew that the very moment he did; he would be disowned.

Soonyoung was patient, and until he was sure Jihoon was in the mood to talk to him, he didn’t touch the issue of this conversation at all.

“So, do you think I don’t love you because I don’t want to have sex with you?” - He said when he knew Jihoon was into talking now.

“No…” - Jihoon could see Soonyoung’s frown of disappointment - “Yes… I don’t know. Do you?”

“Do I what?” 

“Love me?” - Of course, he must, he was under the curse!

“No.” - Jihoon’s eyes widened at the statement. He should be, he was supposed to be under the influence of the curse to love Jihoon unconditionally - “Not yet. I want you, a lot Jihoon. But we’ve only been together for three months, and I still have a lot to know about you, picking out which parts of you I love best, and which flaws I’ll have to accept. I don’t know if I love you now, but I do know that I want to, a lot, in the near future.” - He sighed and he continued - “I don’t want to have sex with you now isn’t because I don’t love you or I don’t want you, but it’s because I respect you. Until I hear you say you want it and that you’re ready for it, I don’t want you to want to have sex with me just because you think we have to do it in order to be ‘in love’ with each other. I want it to be love, not lust.”

“Wh...why?” - Jihoon wanted to beat himself for asking that, but he was genuinely curious. 

“I made the mistake of treating Wonwoo like an experiment that made me feel good. I won’t make the same mistake with you.” - He said as he moved forward and wrapped Jihoon into his embrace. Soonyoung pressed a soft kiss on Jihoon’s forehead before he spoke again - “I want us to be together for a long time, and it means we’ll have to be patient to learn about each other.”

“A long time?”

“If possible, forever.” - He said softly as he looked at Jihoon with his eyes filled with love. 

That was the first time in forever Jihoon saw those eyes. He was used to people looking at him with lust-filled eyes, but not love. 

That night was the first night in forever that Jihoon felt like he was respected. 

\-- 

Soonyoung’s 23rd birthday marked their seventh month together. Jihoon didn’t know why but he was really excited, he even went to Hephaestus and asked him to make him a special necklace that was unique in this world. Hephaestus was surprised at the request, but he did it anyway. They went out that night with Soonyoung’s friends, and even though Soonyoung’s friends still had some irks being with Jihoon, they accepted him since one of them, Hansol, said that he had never seen Soonyoung that happy since forever. They all knew about the constant fighting Wonwoo and Soonyoung had before their break-up, so in the end, they had to respect the person who made Soonyoung happy again. 

“Hey.” - Soonyoung said as he was holding Jihoon’s hand on the way home. - “You want to go somewhere with me tomorrow?”

“Where?” - Jihoon asked. He had been more comfortable “playing” Soonyoung’s boyfriend lately, he had been more comfortable with pet names and cute gestures by Soonyoung. Jihoon concluded by their sixth month together that Soonyoung was not a bad guy at all. 

But was it because he was under the influence of the curse to be nice to him, or he actually was nice?

“I planned it all, you just have to come with me.” - Soonyoung smiled and pulled Jihoon closer. Jihoon didn’t complain, though he couldn’t understand humans’ needs for unnecessary touches. 

Jihoon nodded, and Soonyoung smiled like he was the happiest man on Earth. 

Soonyoung took Jihoon to a small cabin on top of the mountain. He said that he wanted to see the full moon with Jihoon. Jihoon didn’t say anything, but he felt a sudden pain in his heart when he was sitting on the balcony looking at the full moon with Soonyoung. 

He had always hated the moon, it was because of his first memory of love. He fell in love when he was just a newly created creature that wasn’t claimed by Eros yet. It didn’t end well, and Jihoon believed for years that he was unlovable until he realized that love wasn’t real. Lust could be proven, but love? A bunch of unnamed feelings that couldn’t be physicalized? How could that be real? 

“What are you thinking?” - Soonyoung moved closer to Jihoon and hooked his head on Jihoon’s shoulder. 

“About the moon.” - Jihoon said vaguely, too lazy to think of a valid excuse. 

“What about the moon?” - But Soonyoung had no intention of letting the story go.

“The moon is sad.” - Jihoon said. - “The moon is parting. Parting of the day. Parting of the light.” - Soonyoung hummed in understanding - “The moon is sad.”

“Indeed.” - Soonyoung smiled at Jihoon. - “But the moon is hope, as well. A new day is waiting after the moon. Always.”

“Yeah…” - Jihoon sighed, and he put his head on Soonyoung’s head that was hooking over his shoulder. They both leaned on each other for a while before Jihoon whispered into Soonyoung’s ear. - “I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?” - Soonyoung asked and all Jihoon replied to him with was a kiss that he deepened the very moment Soonyoung leaned closer. 

That night they made love under the silver light of the moon. 

\-- 

They had their first big fight when Soonyoung was 24 and just graduated with his Masters degree. The job market was brutal those days, and Soonyoung graduated at the high-time of job seeking. He couldn’t find one for four months, and they both stood on the verge of being evicted from their apartment since Soonyoung’s parents refused to pay for anything after Soonyoung’s graduation. They said it was time for Soonyoung to be independent on his own feet, and Soonyoung, who was confident with the glowing aura of inexperienced youth, agreed on a whim. 

So, Jihoon, a God who had never worked a day in his life, had to put himself on the search for a proper job to support the both of them. Luckily, Jihoon was taught music by no other than Apollo himself. He quickly found a job as a Music teacher at the school nearby. Since he had a talent for making everyone fall in love with him, the kids were not an exception. He became the most popular teacher around, and in no time he could open his private tutoring sessions at home. 

Yet, Soonyoung couldn’t find a job. It was typical for new graduates to struggle to find a job, Soonyoung knew it, but nothing prepared him for it, especially since he was the golden trust fund baby ever since he was little, so facing the harsh real world alone was difficult enough. What made it worse was that he compared himself with Jihoon. Jihoon didn’t go to college, he hadn’t worked since they met but he only took a few weeks to secure a job and thrived. Jihoon had been nothing but comforting to Soonyoung, but his insecurity was getting the best of him. 

Until one day he let it explode. 

Soonyoung came back from another failed interview, dejected and exhausted while Jihoon was teaching in their spare room for the little children who signed up for his tutoring session. Soonyoung came home seeing Jihoon’s focus was on something else that was not him, and that he saw that Jihoon was still working even though he failed to work for months now. 

He felt irritated. 

So just when the kids left, he immediately went to their room and closed the door on Jihoon. Jihoon sighed, Soonyoung would only be like that when he was being passive-aggressive, and Jihoon didn’t like dealing with a passive-aggressive Soonyoung, so he stayed quiet and started making dinner instead.

Yes, for the several years he had been on Earth, he learned how to cook for himself. He got used to life on Earth by his second year there, and he had accepted the fact that he had to be Soonyoung’s boyfriend until Soonyoung died, so the sooner he got used to living like a human, the better. Seungcheol came to visit from time to time with magical objects that could aid Jihoon in living his life on Earth, so he had some more advantages than everyone else. Like the special amulet that Seungcheol got from Poseidon that could help Jihoon clean his house everytime he needed to. In the time Soonyoung had to be out all day to seek a job, Jihoon learned how to cook and took care of the house, especially when he only had to work for a specific number of hours per day because he was just a contracted teacher. 

“Soonie, dinner’s ready.” - He called as he knocked on their bedroom door, but he heard nothing. - “I’ll eat it all if you don’t come out.” - He tried to make a joke, but Soonyoung was dead serious about locking himself in a room. 

Jihoon took a deep sigh, he knew that he didn’t like to deal with this Soonyoung, but he had to anyway. 

“Kwon Soonyoung, either you come out or I’m coming in!” - Jihoon said and he could hear the faint rustling of the blankets, but he didn’t see Soonyoung come out. So he did what he threatened to do, he opened the door. - “Soonyoung.”

Soonyoung didn’t say anything, he just stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Jihoon completely puzzled and lost. Soonyoung moved to the couch in their living room, completely ignoring the dinner table that Jihoon had set out and prepared for him. What he usually said he loved the most everytime he came home. 

“Do you have anything to say to me?” - Jihoon finally processed everything and prepared for a fight. They hardly ever fought, so he didn’t know what was coming, he only knew that he needed to de-escalate it before it got out of hand and left them both wounded. Well, left Soonyoung wounded because if Soonyoung’s hurt, he would be hurt from the promise he made with Styx. 

“No. Bad day.” - Soonyoung said coldly.

“It doesn’t sound like it.” - Jihoon said. 

“It’s something you couldn’t understand.” - Soonyoung shook his head. 

“I can still listen to you talk about it and try to understand.”

“See?” - Soonyoung suddenly snickered - “You can only ‘try’ to understand. Someone who had their lives figured out like you wouldn’t understand the struggles I face everyday out there.”

“You’re seriously fighting with me because you couldn’t get a job.” - Jihoon scoffed, and he could feel Soonyoung tensed up before he growled. 

“No, Jihoon, but because you had to constantly rub it in my face that I don’t have a fucking job.”

“It had only been four months!” - Jihoon growled back, he was a God for god’s sake. How could he stand being yelled at by a mere mortal - “It’s been four months! You don’t expect to get your life figured out in just four months!”

“You got a job in two weeks! You can’t go riding up there looking down and tell me that four months isn’t a long time.” - Soonyoung said. Then he sighed and dropped his head. - “Forget it. It’s me being unfair to you. Let’s just leave it and have dinner.”

“No, Soon. You will have to tell me what’s wrong with you because this is not how we’re ending it if it bothers you so much you felt the need to be mad at me about it.” - Jihoon said as he closed the rice cooker’s lid. - “We’re going to talk, and we’re going, to be honest with each other. I’m not letting this be a scar on our relationship. I’m fighting.” - Jihoon said as he then questioned himself of why he was so stubborn about it. He knew that it was more than just him being scared of being punished by the promise of River Styx. 

“Fine.” - Soonyoung sat back down on the couch. A sudden realization crept upon him as he realized he also had a similar conversation with Wonwoo before they broke up. He had always been the one who initiated it. 

But last time Wonwoo told him to walk away. This time Jihoon told him to stay and figure things out together. 

Last time he was treated like a kid. This time he was listened to. 

“I don’t know what got over me.” - Soonyoung finally spoke up - “I came home from what, my seventh job rejection in a month and the first thing I saw was you parading your success in my home, our home. You were so popular kids waited for weeks just to get a session with you, and you’re practically paying for this apartment now. I feel like... I feel useless. You know…” - He stopped to take a deep breath before he continued - “And I knew how much you’re loved at your school. I know how much you’re offered. I feel like when I’m still stuck in University, you, and everyone around me, have already become an adult. I just… What if one day everyone finds that I’m not good enough to be around anymore?”

Jihoon didn’t know what he should do. He had never encountered this situation before. More likely he had never dealt with insecurity in a relationship before because he never kept anyone around long enough to see their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. As much as Jihoon wanted to help Soonyoung at that moment, he had nothing to say. So all he did was sit down next to Soonyoung, held his hand tight, and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek. 

“You’re insecure.” - He said, and the following words came from a distant past that he thought he had forgotten - “You’re new to this, and it is alright to feel weak and small. I am here though, can you feel me holding your hand?” - Soonyoung nodded and Jihoon continued - “That is, this is the warmth that I’ll be lending you everytime you feel like you’re beaten down. This is the warmth that you’ll feel everytime you’re sad and tired. So trust me, trust this warmth I’m giving you, alright?”

Soonyoung nodded, and honestly, he had gotten rid of his irritation the moment he told Jihoon about how scared he was of losing the people around him just because he was afraid that they would see him less of a person if he couldn’t get a job. If he was less successful than what he expected to be. 

However, that night, Jihoon had a dream of someone from his long, long past. The one from the moon that hurt him so bad. 

\--

Soonyoung took Jihoon back to his family when he was 25. It was a week before his birthday, and he had made up his mind that he wanted to make it official between them. He didn’t know where the courage came from, but he wanted to do this. 

To his surprise, his parents told him that they already knew he was gay when he first moved in with Wonwoo, and they were just waiting. There was this one comment that got Jihoon thinking though when his parents said they admired how Soonyoung’s love for Jihoon was strong enough to push him to face the worst fear of his life. 

It had been irritating Jihoon the whole day, and nothing made it worse than when they encountered Wonwoo again at the bar near their place when they got back to Seoul and wanted a night out. Wonwoo was with Mingyu, and they both looked like they were having a lot of fun, talking and smiling. Soonyoung didn’t remember seeing Wonwoo this carefree though, as in their relationship a while ago, Wonwoo had always been the one who took care of Soonyoung. This time, Wonwoo was happy with Mingyu, and Soonyoung could see it. 

And Jihoon could see it. He saw how Soonyoung couldn’t take his eyes off the couple for the entire duration of their date. It was until Mingyu noticed them and gestured to Wonwoo, Jihoon knew that Mingyu was telling Wonwoo that they could leave if he wanted to, but Wonwoo shook his head and approached Soonyoung and Jihoon. Soonyoung’s expression was hard to read, but Jihoon figured it could be that Soonyoung still felt an attraction to Wonwoo, they loved each other so much when Jihoon came and took Soonyoung away. Jihoon could sense it back then when he still used his power, but after the agreement with Seungcheol, he didn’t use his power anymore, so he couldn’t tell at that moment if Soonyoung was slowly falling back in love with Wonwoo. 

They talked. Soonyoung and Wonwoo talked for a while. Mingyu was standing there the entire time, he didn’t speak, but he knew that Mingyu hated both of them. Especially Jihoon. 

“Excuse me I have to get freshened up.” - Jihoon excused himself, and Soonyoung only nodded. 

Jihoon walked out of the bar and immediately took a strange, good-looking man on the street to a corner. He used his power to manipulate the man to kiss him, to mark him, to want to sleep with him. Jihoon did it out of a surging emotion that he couldn’t name. He took the man to a hotel nearby, as they were taking off their clothes when that man grabbed Jihoon and initiated a deep kiss. In a flash of a moment, Jihoon pushed the man away and chased him out of the room, didn’t even giving him a chance to grab his scattered clothes on the floor. 

Jihoon sat back on the hotel bed where he looked up hazily into the ceiling. He didn’t know what got into him, denying sex. Imagine being the most beloved son of a God of Sex and Love and went on to deny having sex with an attractive man. He couldn’t understand what happened, as well as he couldn’t understand that unnamed emotion that washed over him in that particular moment. 

Jihoon was scared. As much as he hated to admit it, he was scared. For a moment there he really thought that Soonyoung wanted to get back together with Wonwoo, which was obviously impossible since he was under the influence of the curse, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere unless Jihoon let him.

Yeah, unless Jihoon let him.

Jihoon returned home a bit later than Soonyoung, and Soonyoung had already taken a shower when he opened the door to their bedroom. Soonyoung looked more quiet than usual, his eyes glued to the phone screen. 

“Mingyu proposed to Wonwoo.” - Was all Soonyoung said when Jihoon joined him on their shared bed. 

_Are you sad?_ But Jihoon couldn’t say it out loud. He didn’t know why, but he was scared of the answer, no matter how much he convinced himself that the curse would keep Soonyoung with him forever. 

But did Soonyoung wanted to stay with him? Or was he just under the influence of the curse?

For the first time since he was cursed, Jihoon understood why he was cursed to always be loved by everyone around him. 

Because when he fell in love, he would forever have to live with the uncertainty that whether or not the person he loved really loved him. Or they were just being influenced by a force they couldn’t understand. 

So, the only way he wouldn’t be hurt was to not fall in love with Soonyoung. He was so sure with it in the beginning, what changed?

That night, the first time since his creation, Jihoon shed a tear. 

Jeonghan knew it, he was watching their love life with his power as the Son of The Goddess of Love. Seungcheol shook his head while Joshua could only sigh. 

“Should I cancel the bet before Jihoon hurt himself?” - Seungcheol asked his lovers, and though Joshua nodded in agreement, Jeonghan shook his head. 

“Their Loveline ends with a happy ending. A rough but happy ending.” - Jeonghan said when he studied their love story that was being written into a blank book. That was how the Gods of Love kept track of Love on Earth, by having it write itself. Jeonghan, who studied with Hecate, the Goddess of Magic, for a while, could read the ending before it was written. However, he couldn’t read the full story since it would be interfering with the power of the Three Sisters of Fate. No one would want to see the Three Sisters of Fate get angry. 

“Jihoon would have to deal with his own story.” - Jeonghan added - “He would have to learn on his own. This is what he owes The One from The Moon as well.”

“Ah…” - Seungcheol nodded as if the name rang a bell.

  
  


Jihoon learned a week later that instead of looking at Wonwoo, Soonyoung was actually eying the ring on Wonwoo’s finger. Soonyoung had thought of proposing to Jihoon a couple of months ago, but he was scared that Jihoon wasn’t ready for such a commitment. Not until he saw how happy Mingyu made Wonwoo feel, and how he wished that he could make Jihoon as happy as Wonwoo that night, even more. He was looking for a ring when Jihoon came home, and he was drunk so he didn’t hear Jihoon cry. Yet, the stain on Jihoon’s pillow the next morning gave him a clue, and he hurried with his proposal since he didn’t want Jihoon to overthink. 

Jihoon, when he saw the ring, felt an immense sense of guilt. The night Soonyoung thought about marrying him, he was manipulating someone else into sleeping with him, and even though he couldn’t go through with it, he still felt like he did something wrong. 

“Should I tell Soonyoung, Cheol?” - He sighed as one day Seungcheol visited with Jeonghan while Soonyoung was out working. 

“About what?” - Seungcheol asked. 

“About the guy whom I almost slept with.” 

“Do you want to?” - Seungcheol asked, and Jihoon went quiet. 

He wanted to, but he didn’t know how to. How could he hurt Soonyoung like that? 

Being the son of The God of Love (and Sex, but he no longer considered that part of his title since he had not been having sex with anyone except for Soonyoung for years now), he was embarrassed to admit that he was still trying to understand love. He didn’t even know what he was feeling for Soonyoung then was real love or just him trying to avoid the punishment of both the bet and the promise he made on River Styx. He couldn’t explain it. Sex was easy to explain, you had physical attractions, and you pleasure each other. It was clear and observable. Love, he didn’t know why his Father had to pick such a difficult category to be the representative God of. Love had no proper definition. Scientists said it was hormones and chemicals, romanticists said it was the connection of the soul, humans sought it all their lives only to be disappointed that it couldn’t be like those romance movies they watched in their teens. It was even easier to explain Love when humans were under the influence of his curse since it was the thing that drew them to him and he had complete control over them, but without the curse, how could he know if he was the one being loved?

\--

Jihoon and Soonyoung got married when Soonyoung was 28, after he got promoted to be the Creative Director of the agency he was working at. They finally saved up enough to travel to the Bahamas for their honeymoon, and Soonyoung felt like he was the happiest person in the world. 

When they got married, Jihoon was forced to make a vow under the New God of the people. The New God, though had no power over him and his influences, scared Jihoon because he could see through the facade he was putting on as a human. So when he first stepped into the chapel, he could feel a rush of power wrapped around him, and he tried to conceal his aura so that he wouldn’t hurt the humans around him. The Gods appeared in different forms than humans, and they often were surrounded with an aura that could blind anyone who dared to look directly at them. Jihoon was no exception, if he let the New God expose him right there, he could risk multiple casualties. Not to mention, he could hurt Soonyoung. 

“Don’t step further into my territory, Minor God.” - He could hear the warning of the “angels” but he didn’t mind. 

“I just want to get married to this man.” - Jihoon answered, and he could hear the angels murmured. 

The angels finally gave him an ultimatum so that he could step into their chapel safely. He had to tell Soonyoung the truth he was hiding. He had to tell Soonyoung that he almost committed infidelity. Even though it didn’t happen, he thought of it, and it was unacceptable in the eyes of the angels. If he wouldn’t tell Soonyoung, the angels would expose him and his real identities in front of Soonyoung. If Soonyoung saw the true form of Jihoon, the son of a God, he would go blind, or worse, died.

So, one night before their wedding, Jihoon worked up the courage to tell Soonyoung. 

“But did you do it?” - Soonyoung asked after being silent for a while to process what Jihoon just admitted.

“I didn’t.” - Jihoon said softly - “I wanted to. I don’t know why. I think I was hurt, and you were looking at Wonwoo and I thought because I stole you away from Wonwoo, deep inside you still love him. I know it was stupid, but at that moment it seemed true.”

“You stole me from him?” - Soonyoung asked again, but this time his tone got softer - “I was having trouble with him, I wanted to be with you.” - He sighed before he approached Jihoon to press a kiss on his forehead - “I wanted to be with you, you didn’t steal me from anybody, I did it on my own will.”

That broke Jihoon. It broke Jihoon so bad because he couldn’t tell Soonyoung the truth that he indeed stole Soonyoung from Wonwoo. That he influenced Soonyoung with his stupid curse so that he could win a stupid bet with Seungcheol that he regretted agreeing to every single day of his life. 

It broke Jihoon so much because he didn’t know how many words in those things Soonyoung said to him were true. He didn’t know whether or not he said it because he really wanted to or was it because of a cloud inside his head telling him he had to love Jihoon. He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know, because he sensed it when he first got together with Soonyoung, that Soonyoung loved Wonwoo so much. At first, he stopped using his power because he wanted to follow the rules of the bet, now he was scared to use his power because he didn’t want to know the truth. 

He was weak. He was vulnerable. He was everything he hated in humans.

Being with humans for too long, their bad traits would rub off on you. 

“You don’t know if you love me, Soonyoung.” - Was all he said before he opened the door and walked out. One day before their wedding.

He had nowhere to go, so he returned to his castle. Great, Seungcheol won the bet, he would come to Seungcheol the next day and tell him that. Then, he only wanted to be alone. 

But his alone time didn’t last long because he started to feel a heat creeping up inside of him. Sparks of a fire. Soon, the fire spread out his entire body, and he was in extreme pain. 

The promise of River Styx.

He hurt Soonyoung and right then he was being punished. The more Soonyoung was hurting because of him, the more pain he would feel. Jihoon felt like he could’ve died there. It was like every inch of his body was being burnt with Greek Fire. 

“You should go back and check on Soonyoung, Jihoon.” - Mingyu’s voice came out of nowhere. Of course, Mingyu must have sensed that Jihoon was being punished by his own promise, and he came over just to laugh at Jihoon’s face. - “No, I’m not here to laugh at you, Jihoon. Wonwoo is happy with me now, so I have no excuse to hate you anymore. But I’m telling you, you should check on Soonyoung, he’s hurt.”

Soonyoung was indeed hurt. He was drinking and sobbing endlessly, and even though Chan and Jun came over to comfort him, he still convinced himself that Jihoon left for good. He kept crying and crying until he passed out due to exhaustion, and Chan had no other choice but to stay over that night. 

In the middle of the night, Soonyoung woke up. He opened the door to their balcony and looked at the moon. Jihoon saw that, and Soonyoung’s silhouette in the moonlit night looked so familiar to him that it was scary. Soonyoung reminded him so much of the person he once loved, and the person who broke him. 

But Soonyoung wasn’t The One from The Moon. Soonyoung wouldn’t hurt Jihoon just because Jihoon was a smaller God. Soonyoung wouldn’t turn his back on Jihoon. Soonyoung wouldn’t just leave. 

Or would he?

Jihoon wanted to believe that he wouldn’t. 

“You will be with me forever?” - Jihoon asked as he held Soonyoung close in his embrace - “Right?”

Just the question he asked the first person he loved millennia ago. Last time, the man didn’t answer.

But Soonyoung nodded frantically as if he was scared that if he was one second late, Jihoon would disappear again. Jihoon hummed a soft lullaby to lead Soonyoung to his sleep. 

“Seungcheol.” - Jihoon said to himself, but he knew Seungcheol was listening - “I admit it, I lost our bet. You can take my power away, I want to be able to live a normal, mortal life with this man.”

“You know that even if I take away your power, it doesn’t take away your curse. You’d still have to live life unsure if he loves you because of the curse or if he really does, right?” - Seungcheol said as he appeared out of thin air. 

“Yeah. I don’t know if I love him or not either.” - Jihoon sighed - “But he makes me want to try. So until I’m sure what love means to me, I want to be with him.”

“You’ll be hurt. You cannot use your power to heal your broken heart this time.” - Seungcheol warned. He had seen Jihoon hurt once, and it was brutal for him. 

“It’s worth a try.” - Jihoon chuckled softly - “And I made a promise to River Styx.”

“Fine.” - Seungcheol smiled. - “See you when you’re a God again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there are still some holes left to be filled, especially since these are just scenes from their years. It will be filled later as the story progresses ❤️. 
> 
> Comment if you see any issues, or just want to scream at me or discuss the story, whatever, it'd be appreciated. 
> 
> Or talk to me on Twitter @alxhayz
> 
> It'll be a while for a new chapter since as you can see, one chapter is really long and it covers 10 years of Soonyoung's life. So...
> 
> Anyway, until next time, love y'all so much.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'll try to update this as soon as possible after I finish I'll Love You, Stranger! If you find it interesting you can bookmark or subscribe, I'll update very soon!
> 
> Follow me on Twitter @alxhayz for sooner update!


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